Should You Watch ‘The Killer’? Review of David Fincher’s Netflix Movie

Premiering on the Venice Movie Competition earlier than its temporary theatrical run, The Killer takes us into the world of a global murderer as he meticulously prepares for his newest task. After a fateful near-miss, he’s on the run, able to face his employers – and himself – as he embarks on a globetrotting manhunt he insists isn’t private.

Primarily based on the French graphic novel of the identical title created by Alexis Nolent & Luc Jacamon, the movie is a reunion of kinds for Fincher and his earlier screenwriting collaborator Andrew Kevin Walker, who labored on the screenplays for Seven & Struggle Membership within the mid-to-late Nineties. Fincher additionally brings again his more moderen cinematographer of alternative, Oscar winner Erik Messerschmidt (Mank, Mindhunter) & two-time Oscar-winning composers Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (The Social Community, Gone Woman, The Woman with the Dragon Tattoo).

Whereas he could have taken a small detour along with his extra private undertaking Mank, director David Fincher has returned to his love of society’s underbelly with The Killer. Contract killing below a community headed by an Worldwide Commerce Legal professional and his former scholar. Working for the rich elite. Overlaying their tracks with excessive precision. Using fashionable conveniences like WeWork stations, Amazon pickups, & Postmates deliveries to finish missions. Seems like the proper playground for the person who made Se7en, The Woman with the Dragon Tattoo, & Mindhunter.

What he could discover much more interesting than its grittier & extra brutal occupation is the calculated method and painstaking consideration to element that the job requires. The person recognized for his 50+ takes on one scene or scrapping stable performances as a result of an additional wasn’t strolling proper could come to understand a person who must decrease his coronary heart fee all the way down to beneath 60 to shoot his goal from lengthy vary via glass home windows. If the satan is within the particulars, then this film goes straight to Hell. Because the Murderer lead says after blowing up a home with a Molotov cocktail, “That is what it takes … What you have to commit your self to … if you wish to succeed.”

Regardless of his motives or inspirations, Fincher certainly discovered his muse along with his lead Michael Fassbender. An actor with the vary to carry out as a chilly & cautious mental in Steve Jobs AND a mysterious black ops cleaner in Haywire should have made him the highest of Fincher’s must-hire listing. Fortunate for us that Fassbender took the task. He sucks us in along with his monotone narration explaining the virtues of listening to music as a wholesome distraction or his “not giving a f*ck” or “flying no flag” mentality after which blows us away along with his athleticism & ferocity when obligation calls.

The movie additionally boasts a small, however mighty supporting solid that includes the likes of one more Oscar winner in Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), the at all times spectacular Charles Parnell (Prime Gun: Maverick, Mission: Not possible – Useless Reckoning Half One), & veteran standout Arliss Howard, who Fincher used brilliantly as studio head Louis B. Mayer in 2020’s Mank.

Image: Netflix

Whereas Fincher followers will enjoy The Killer’s return to type as a darkish, moody thriller, they need to additionally embrace the elevated quantity of understated comedy that has been largely absent because the days of Andrew Kevin Walker’s early scripts. Even in probably the most frantic moments, Fassbender’s narration will flip to Struggle Membership-esque quips like “WWJWBD … What would John Wilkes Sales space do?” or “How’s I don’t give a f*ck going?”. He’ll even launch into laments about his occupation together with “When was my final good, quiet drowning?” or “It’s superb how bodily exhausting it’s to do nothing” – a private favourite of mine because it is likely to be the Movie Critic’s anthem. Viewers who benefit from the little particulars may additionally smirk on the sitcom character aliases The Killer has to make the most of on occasion, although Archie Bunker is likely to be a bit of a lot when you’re making an attempt to be inconspicuous.

I’d even be remiss if I didn’t point out The Smiths, the definitive British indie rock band of the Eighties and the sonic wallpaper for The Killer’s skilled endeavors. This element is so excellent it hurts. The regular melodies enhanced by the forlorn croons of Morrissey with lyrics so haunting that OF COURSE a contract killer would love. Strains like “I’m human and I should be cherished identical to everyone else does” from my private favourite Smiths track “How Quickly is Now?” nearly serves as a quiet eager for The Killer as we subtly encounter his secret romance that motivates his revenge. The closing credit track “There’s a Gentle That By no means Goes Out” additionally serves as probably the most romantic a cold-blooded murderer can get with its darkly winking refrain “… to die by your facet is such a heavenly option to die”.

Image: Netflix

Whereas I loved the movie fairly a bit, the one factor holding me again from totally embracing it as top-shelf Fincher is the sensation, or lack thereof, after the movie concludes. Usually, in these varieties of movies, we’re handled to a cat & mouse chase or an equal to counter the precision & talent of our hero or anti-hero; in The Killer, we solely see him as he breezes via his revenge as he makes an attempt to flee the life he knowingly created. Whereas I benefit from the degree of element and execution, the movie, very like its protagonist, has a scarcity of depth, feeling, or messaging that may go away an absence by the movie’s conclusion. Lamentations on safety & destiny don’t do a lot in its wake. The journey is worthy of its sensible creator in Fincher, however its takeaways are too minor or refined to linger like the very best of his filmography.

General, The Killer is a fastidiously crafted & surprisingly playful have a look at a darkish & vicious occupation. Its brilliance lies in its temper, its degree of element, its humor, and its ice chilly performances. Fassbender delivers as solely he can, mixing stoicism, athleticism, & biting humor as he methodically weaves his method out and in of hazard. Whereas its execution is high notch and frighteningly engrossing, the substance could go away you wanting extra; However rattling if it isn’t a worthwhile journey.

Watch The Killer If You Appreciated

• Mindhunter
• Se7en
• The Mechanic
• Get Carter (1971)
• Leon: The Skilled
• Le Samourai
• The Woman with the Dragon Tattoo

MVP of The Killer

The Florida Home Scene

For a film that tries to maintain a fair keel like the heartbeat of its protagonist, the revenge sequence on the Florida home can have you tossing your Apple Watch out the window. From drugging pit bulls to throwing a Molotov cocktail, this scene cranks up the motion to an absurd diploma (not a criticism). The battle choreography is properly crafted, properly staged, & completely satisfying even when most blows would knock out Muhammad Ali and don’t cease our murderer from his endgame.

A return to the issues that made us fall in love with Fincher over 25 years in the past with extra humor than you’d anticipate. Time to order a bucket hat & Hawaiian shirt for Halloween subsequent yr.